


Pressure

by Tammany



Category: Sherlock - Fandom
Genre: Blackmail, F/M, Malice - Freeform, Manipulation, Vulnerability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-01
Updated: 2014-06-01
Packaged: 2018-02-03 01:03:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1725485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tammany/pseuds/Tammany
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is very small. Very nasty. The moment of eye contact between Sherlock and CAM at the end of Vows, during the flicking scene, right before Mycroft arrives. I still think it's a turning point exchange--that last sequence changes Sherlock from someone saying, "wait it out, John," to someone who's crossed a line and intends to see Magnussen dead. Frankly there is so MUCH tangled into that scene that I suspect Sherlock's running on a good eight to ten emotional triggers, but I still think this is one of them.</p><p>Experiencing the power dynamic...Sherlock learning something new and terrifying about his own pressure points.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pressure

MAGNUSSEN  _(to John)_ : This is what I do to people. This is what I do to whole countries ...  
 _(He flicks him again, then straightens up.)_  
MAGNUSSEN: ... just because I  _know_.  
 _(He bends back down to John.)_  
MAGNUSSEN: Can I do your eye now?  
 _(John turns his head a little, looking away.)_  
MAGNUSSEN: See if you can keep it open, hmm?  
 _(Almost before John turns back to him, he flicks John’s left eyebrow. John’s eyes instinctively flinch closed. Magnussen sniggers and flicks his eyebrow again.)_  
MAGNUSSEN: Come on. For Mary. Keep it open.  
 _(He bends his finger under his thumb again.)_  
JOHN: Sherlock?  
SHERLOCK  _(quietly, his voice apologetic)_ : Let him. I’m sorry.   
 _(Magnussen looks round to him for a moment.)_  
SHERLOCK: Just ... let him.  
 _(John grimaces slightly.)_  
MAGNUSSEN  _(turning back to him)_ : Come on. Eye open.  
 _(With a bemused look on his face, he flicks John’s eyebrow again, and again John’s eyes flinch closed for a moment before he glares back at the man as he sniggers and flicks him again. He laughs as John breathes harshly.)_  
MAGNUSSEN  _(cheerfully)_ : It’s difficult, isn’t it?  _(He straightens up.)_  Janine managed it once.  _(He looks towards Sherlock.)_  She makes the funniest noises.

Transcript from Ariane DeVere.

 

The comparison was not lost on Sherlock. Instead it cascaded down, like an infinitely complex domino-fall; a fall redefining the landscape of his entire mind. He met Magnussen’s eye, met his gloating stare, and knew with a sudden shudder that the bloody bastard had realized something about Sherlock Holmes that Sherlock himself had not.

Flick-flick. Those cold blue eyes gloated, demonstrating a principle:

_See John. See John love Mary. See John stand, and stand, and stand. John loves Mary. He will do this for her. He will do this for his woman._

_You, too, shall stand._

_She is your woman._

_She makes the funniest noises, Sherlock._

_Do you wonder what I had on her? What secret from her past? What treasured person she protected? Who she stood for? Do you wonder—does your logic lead you to suspect—she stood for you? Stood for you after I had my revenge upon her after you broke in, after she made that gleeful little fortune off of you? After she dared to shun my papers with her slutty little stories? Such a naughty girl, that Janine._

_Did I approach her and threaten you?_

_Or did she protect a mother-father-brother-sister-lover-child…._

_A best friend._

_Or you. Or you. Or you._

_See John. See John stand for Mary. See him beg you with that voice of anger and grief and fear, to save him, to save her. You will fail him…and that is bad, but you were ready for it, weren’t you? And Mycroft is coming._

_Mycroft, who is my true goal._

_You might surrender for John—you do love John. You might surrender for his Mary. But you might not. Not for Mycroft, who is powerful, who can fix this. Who knows you love this man and his wife._

_But Janine? Will he protect Janine, Sherlock?_

_Will Mycroft even understand about Janine?_

_Would you protect her?_

_Is she a pressure point?_

_Yes. Yes, she is._

_She makes such funny noises…_

_Brave, stubborn, alone. She makes such very funny noises._

Magnussen knew...knew what Sherlock had not known until that moment. He knew the visceral, instinctive need to protect a lover. He knew that Janine had become Sherlock's weakness, as Mary was John's.

_See John. See John stand. See John stand for Mary._

_See Janine, Sherlock. See her stand. Hear her cry. You don't want her to cry, do you, Sherlock?_

_Then stand._

_John's doing it._

_Janine did it._

Sherlock drew his breath, fighting on the hook, struggling at the end of a steel line tied to Magnussen's will...and knew only one way to freedom for them all.


End file.
